Meraki, Mesh, WiMAX, and White Space

Early this year I wrote about shared access to wireless networks and in particular a guerrilla wireless device called Meraki. As this article explains, Meraki 'makes WiFi equipment and sells its WiFi repeaters and network gateways to residents who volunteer to deploy the equipment on rooftops or on their windowsills to create a wireless network. In San Francisco, Meraki is picking up the tab for the Internet service and provides free access through the wireless network to anyone without advertising. Meraki is building a citywide network in San Francisco it hopes to complete by 2009. About 150,000 of the city's 860,000 residents use the network.' And this one gives an example of Meraki use in a smaller community. Last month, Meraki announced an program to enlist local businesses in expanding no-cost urban wireless access.

Today, news is emerging of an FCC decision that could give a huge boost to this grassroots effort. In a unanimous decision the Commission decided yesterday to open unused portions of the TV broadcast spectrum for wireless communication. Details are sparse but as one writer says, 'The decision is a big victory for public interest groups and technology companies such as Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.' The valleys in this image shows the white spaces that could be made available:

These vacant spaces in the spectrum are to be available for free, unlicensed use. They're better for wireless access that current Wi-Fi technology because -- being longer-waved -- they can carry greater amounts of data and reach a wider geographic area. I've put links to the FCC announcements below.

The connection between Meraki and white-space lies in a technology called Mesh. Mesh networks are self-configuring. If a signal is disrupted, it is automatically re-routed to a working node. Meraki is based on this Mesh capability and the TV white-space is also expected to use it. Simple, low-cost, easily-deployed Meraki devices are expected to enable communities to vastly expand free online connectivity. As one source puts it 'Through use of mesh networks, unserved or underserved communities could readily and cost effectively create their own network extensions as alternative means of Internet connectivity. In addition, because mesh networks are easily deployed, they can offer a means of communications if existing networks fail during catastrophes.'

The Commission also voted unanimously to permit a merger between two wireless network providers, Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. Google, which has been pushing for this approval, is -- along with Intel and other major players -- investing billions of dollars in the merged company. The big companies are betting that the new company, called Clearwire, will advance a wireless standard called WiMAX to offer super high-speed wireless access. WiMAX devices have been expensive, but the cost could drop as more come into use. They are compatible with Mesh technology and as a result Meraki devices can be used in some WiMAX environments. As WiMAX explands, there's potential for Meraki/Mesh expansion as well.

No one knows how the white-space decision will play out. There's plenty of opposition from cable providers and those who currently provide internet services to paying subscribers. The former stand to lose a great deal of business since just about everything subscribers now get via cable they may in future be able to obtain at much less cost. The latter stand to lose a lucrative business since they currently charge monthly fees that are much higher than their expenses in providing them. In addition to greatly improving communications among first-responders during disasters and to providing low-cost or no-cost service in areas that are now unserved or underserved, white-space mesh networks could give home-owners a cost-effective means of monitoring home-wide energy usage, provide inexpensive network links among home appliances for service use, and permit organizations, such as schools and libraries, to set up low-cost internal networks.

Just keep in mind that much is yet unknown about the useful potential of white space - or even about the extent of its availability. Also, for all the advantages, there are probably many downsides. I'm thinking about the greatly increased potential for passive surveillance, that is to say a great expansion in the number of video cams in public places.

A group called the Wireless Internet Alliance has produced a short video explaining white space and its potential:
Welcome to the White Space (5 min. Youtube):


Here are links to the FCC releases:

11/4/08
- News Release: Word | Acrobat
- Martin Statement: Word | Acrobat
- Copps Statement: Word | Acrobat
- Adelstein Statement: Word | Acrobat
- Tate Statement: Word | Acrobat
- McDowell Statement: Word | Acrobat

References:

"this article" - Meraki rolls out mesh partner program

"this one" - Downtown Hillsboro becoming Wi-Fi area

"program to enlist local businesses" - http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Networking/WiFi-Opportunities-a-Bright-Spot-for-Solution-Providers/

"open unused portions of TV airways for wireless communication" - FCC approves white space to deliver wireless broadband

"one writer" - FCC approves white space to deliver wireless broadband

Image source: - http://www.cellfanatic.com/

"one source" - Examples Of Consumer Benefits From “tv White Spaces” Legislation (pdf)

shared access to wireless networks

With the new year comes an end to the "best of 2007" and an influx of glimpse-of-the-future posts. One such prognostication in the Sydney Morning Herald highlights a favorite of mine: a program to release the stranglehold that the telcos have on wireless access in the US (and many other countries). The article is Ten things that will change your future. Here's the trend:

GUERILLA WI-FI Having a wireless internet system set up at home is becoming increasingly common. However, tapping into the internet while out and about is still very hit and miss - and where it is available is often nose-bleedingly expensive (Telstra "hot spots" cost $14 an hour while Optus slugs users about $12 an hour).

Meraki is an internet start-up that aims to change all that by providing cheap - or free - wireless networks. Meraki sells a remarkable device call the Meraki Mini for $US49. Plug it in to your internet connection and it will instantly provide shared access to other users up to 50 metres away.

Put several Merakis together in a neighbourhood (and perhaps include a few of the more powerful versions that cover up to 350 metres) and they will instantly form a "mesh" network, giving internet access to anyone in the area. These "guerilla" networks are beginning to spring up in cities around the world, driven by people for whom internet access is a social-equity issue. Do internet service providers like this Robin Hood-style behaviour? Not at all. Can they do much about it? Er, no. http://www.meraki.com.

Here's what Meraki says about itself:

A little about Meraki

Meraki’s mission is to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people. Meraki’s new approach to wireless networking empowers individuals and groups to bring access to local communities, anywhere in the world.

Meraki has focused on changing the economics of access since its beginning as a MIT Ph.D. research project that provided wireless access to graduate students.

Using their research, Meraki got its start at a low-income housing community in the US. News about Meraki’s products spread by word of mouth into over 25 countries around the world. Every day, new Meraki networks bring access to locations ranging from urban apartment complexes in London to villages in India.

Meraki is based in Mountain View, California, and is backed in part by Google and Sequoia Capital.

The Name
Meraki (may-rah-kee) is a Greek word that means doing something with soul, creativity, or love. It’s when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing.

A blog post on Meraki in SF gives a few details:

The Meraki Mini is a tiny 802.11 b/g wireless router that simply plugs into a wall outlet and an Internet connection, and can also work as a repeater for an existing Internet network. It was based on the MIT RoofNet project (but is not directly compatible with it). By placing Meraki’s $50 mini repeaters in their windows, the devices will automatically form a network to relay wireless Internet throughout the neighborhood.

Meraki’s Dashboard software can be used to monitor a network and limit bandwidth usage — and to monetize the network, letting the network operator decide how much, if anything, to charge a user for access. The money collection is handled by Meraki, which takes a cut before they send the operator a check.

The post also contains this photo of the 50-meter device (click to view full size):